Picardy Third - Example

Example

Here is an example from Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata Ich habe genug, BWV 82 in G Minor at a cadence in the right-hand of a realised continuo part. Play

What makes this cadence a tierce de Picardie is shown by the red natural sign – instead of the expected B flat (which would make the chord minor) the accidental gives us a B natural, making the chord major.

Listen to the final four measures of "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" with Play and without Play Picardy third (harmony by R. Vaughan Williams).

Other examples include the last chord in the first movement of Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, the final chord of Bach's 'Little' Fugue in G minor for organ,, final cadence of Bach's fuga from the second solo violin sonata in a minor, and the final chord in Gregorio Allegri's Miserere Mei, Deus. The Bach examples are good illustrations of the "stable" character of a Picardy third, while the Miserere Mei can easily be interpreted as "bittersweet".

Listen here:

• "Miserere", MusicaFicta.org.
• "Concerto for Two Violins", Msn-Cnet.com.com.

Thomas Bateson's 15th century madrigal 'Your Shining Eyes' features use of the Picardy third in bar 16. A more modern example is found in The Beatles' "And I Love Her", which closes on a D major chord from a final passage in the key of F major/D minor. Other modern examples include "Roundabout" by the band Yes, "Sweet Child o' Mine by Guns N' Roses, and the Black Sabbath classic "N.I.B." where the final guitar riff over an E power chord ultimately slides down to and sustains G♯.